“They are having catfood soup, carrotcakes, ice cream tea, and cheesy muffins. And they’re having vanilla cookies because a girl is coming over, and a girl can’t eat catfood!”
“And now the animals have changed up the menu to a different style. Because now they are having marshmallows and vanilla ice cream and grape sandwiches. And honey cereal. They changed the menu now, Dad!”
— Lucy explaining her dolls’ and stuffed animals’ lunch menu
When August began, we didn’t have any plans to upgrade our two main computers. However, as the month closes, that’s exactly what’s happened.
Earlier this month, we purchased a new iMac to replace one we’d sold to my sister. Well, recently we learned that a nephew about to start college was in the market for an inexpensive Macbook. So, to make a long story short, he now has Jill’s old laptop and Jill has a pretty nifty early Christmas present: a Macbook Pro.
So, here’s the second Mac unboxing video of the month. Since it’s Jill’s computer, she and the kid nudged out Wubie a bit this time (though he does make an appearance at the end.) We should now be set computer-wise for a while (I think!)
Over the weekend we set up my mom’s Mac Mini with a camera so she could start doing video chats. We have family throughout California, Oregon, Hawaii, etc., so it’d be great if we could include regular video chats as an additional way to stay in touch with each other.
Setting up the chat was pretty simple. Mom just needs to get a little more familiar with the iChat application itself.
Note: on the video above you can only hear Gma’s side of the conversation and not ours. I think this is because I was using Skype on our iMac to walk Gma through this first video chat. Future video chats will have both sids of the conversation.
We got a new (actually a refurb) computer last week, a 27″ i7iMac, to replace the system I sold to my sister. I ordered it last Thursday afternoon and it actually arrived the very next day, so Wubie and I were psyched to bust it open and fire it up.
This was probably the 4th or 5th computer Wubie and I have opened together. We started with a G3 Blue and White back in 1999 when Wubie was a youngster. Wubie’s a teenager now, about 70 in human years, so he’s a little creakier now than he was back then (but then again, so am I.)
I’m hoping he’ll stick around for a few more system changes. It wouldn’t be the same (or nearly as fun) without him.
Here’s a photo collage of Wubie and some of the computers he’s “inspected” over the last 10+ years:
LUCY: “WAAAAUGH! Wubie bit me!”
MOM: “Let me see that. Oh, I think he broke the skin!”…(continues to inspect the ‘wound’)…“Unless that’s just dirt.”
LUCY: “I think that’s just dirt.”
— Conversation overheard following the latest cat vs grubby kid confrontation
We had a get-together at Gma Vita’s place on Saturday to celebrate her birthday. Jill snapped a few pics, which you can view in the slideshow below. She also shot a video of us all singing “Happy Birthday” (see above).
It was great seeing (almost) everybody. The newlyweds, Michael and Michelle made it, especially nice since they’ll be moving to South Carolina next month. Cindy, Patty, Mario, and their families were also able to make the trek over.
Though the covered deck in the backyard is now but a memory and Gma Vita’s sunroom still a work in progress, we managed to make do with the shade provided by the old walnut tree.
Patty and Michael had just gotten back from a visit with Sam and family in Oregon. We were a bit jealous that they got to see the newest addition to the family!
Hopefully, we’ll all be able to get together again soon (including those who were missed this time around).
“Hey, stop calling me Lucan! Call yourself Lucan!”
— Lucy’s rebuttal upon being compared to a 70s TV character
Occasionally the kid lets her freak flag fly and expresses her general disagreement with the concept of clothing by running around in her underwear shouting, “I’m half-naked! Can’t catch me!”
Picture a 3′ 3″ blur of hair, undies, and attitude. She basically looks like a miniature caveman with a Pampers sponsorship running amuck. Invariably, I’ll start calling her Lucan, no doubt because the most accessible (and least cluttered) filing cabinet in my brain is labeled:
“Old TV Show/Comic Book/Movie/Music (60s-80s) Trivia—VERY IMPORTANT!”
Lucan was a short-lived TV show in the ’70s that my little sister and I watched semi-regularly. It told the story of a dude who spends his childhood out in the forest and is raised by a bunch of wolves. He eventually gets reclaimed by society as a dirty, snarling, crazy-haired wild-child (the Bundle connection). He then grows up as a guinea pig in some government-sponsored research lab until his inevitable escape. Action and stuff ensue (at least for the season it was on). I’m actually startled by how much of this I’m remembering.
Lucan Attacks!
Anyway, like a lot of useless info, the tale of Lucan is permanently embedded in my brain, probably hunkered down in my hippocampus, shooing away frivolous thoughts regarding the placement of car keys, wallets, and PIN codes.
So this is why I call the kid Lucan. And the funny thing is: this kid, all of 42 months old, takes much umbrage with this label. “Stop calling me Lucan. YOU’RE LUCAN!” she’ll yell as she dashes away from the 30+ year TV show aspersion. I get a kick out of that.
Lucy: “Tell me a pretend story about how Wubie doesn’t like Christmas lights and it’s Christmas.”
Jill: “Does Wubert get a present?”
Lucy: “Yes, a catnip mouse…but he doesn’t like it!”
Jill: “What would he rather have?”
Lucy: “A sardine sandwich!”
Jill: “OK. Wubert gets a sardine sandwich. Did he get a present for you?”
Lucy: “Yeah, a poop! Yeecch!”
— A conversation overheard in the car
I’ve been cranking out the videos lately in an attempt to get caught up with the mountain of footage Jill and I shoot on a continual basis. So with that said, here’s another gem from my “Getting Caught Up/Making Room on the Drobo” series.
Jill shot this video in April when she, the kid, and Auntie Laura visited the Academy of Sciences. It’s full of penguins, fish, stingrays, and seahorses, with a couple of squirrels thrown in for good measure.
It also features a little kid having a most fun and memorable day, courtesy of her mommy and auntie. Check it out and see if you can spot where Jill encounters the elephant butt.
“Nice hairdo, Daddy!”
— Lucy smiling (after I’d made an effort to look less unkempt). When I asked if she was making fun of me, she said without hesitation: “Yes!”
Last weekend we met some good friends at the San Jose Obon Festival.
In addition to seeing the sites, playing games, having her parents chase her to and fro, and chowing down, Lucy participated in her first Bon Odori dance. She was very excited about it.
The San Jose Bon Odori was huge, with hundreds of people. Lucy had a blast attempting to duplicate the movements of all the dancers. I think she did an admirable job, though her concentration may have wavered a bit in parts.
Pics:
The kid will be busting her yukata out again this weekend for another festival. Actually, I think she also has a birthday party to attend, so her dance card will be full for the next couple of days. I’ll make sure to bring along my trusty camcorder.
Last month we brought Lucy to a really fun birthday party. There were lots of kids, a bouncy house, balloons, toys, a piñata, and cupcakes. Needless to say, the whole experience got a hearty thumbs up from the kid. This is a video from the party.
“We’re going to make a pumpkin pie. It’s going to be very tasty. Why don’t you have some when you are done with work? It’s going to be very tasty!”
— Lucy, upon waking from a dream she had where she’d been baking
“Wubie drove me to the cupcake stand and picked out which cupcakes I wanted.”
— Lucy at the breakfast table that same morning
Here’s the latest episode of our “Life with Lucy” series, where I post a video collage of pics and video snippets from the last six months. (A picture collage can be found here.) Previous “Life with Lucy” installments:
